Breakthrough

Crossing Into 5 Digits 0 1018

The Covid-19 situation in Malaysia continues to deteriorate with cases reaching an all-time high on the 15th of July at 13,215. A milestone Malaysians did not want to achieve, crossing into 5 digits was something most hoped would be avoided. Despite the movement control order, strict targeted lockdowns and an increase in vaccination rates, the cases kept climbing until a slow decrease started showing in the past few days with today totalling at 10,972. Malaysians everywhere have grown impatient to the slow improvement and are rightfully demanding answers to some burning questions:

1- WHY have the cases not decreased despite the MCO?

2- WHY haven’t factories been shut down despite the majority of the cases coming from there?

3- WHEN will the lockdown end?

4- WHY are cases still going up despite such high vaccination rates?

5- WHO is going to be accountable for the mishandling of this pandemic?

6- HOW are people going to be supported through this time?

Even though the government has given answers to some of these questions, they have not satisfied the rakyat at the grassroots level. They explain that the increase in cases is due to the increase in testing. Although this may be true, it still does not give an explanation as to what is causing the continuous growth. With this time being our lowest lows as a country and the highest highs in cases, we have still yet to receive a satisfactory statement from the government providing some guidance to the people. 

Hope is dwindling, the economy is crashing and people are dying from Covid at an alarming rate. If the situation does not improve in the next couple of weeks, Malaysia is said to be in the uncharted waters of a failed nation. Many of the rakyat are severely affected and this is clearly seen in the Bendera Putih initiative where volunteers are coming back with stories of how so many people are really desperate for basic necessities, as jobs have been lost and there does not seem to be a solution in sight. The state of mental health among the rakyat is definitely being challenged and we are seeing unprecedented numbers of suicides.

Despite the fact that the government has been providing statistics showing that most cases are asymptomatic to low symptoms, the daily death rate has still been over 100 a day on average. The rakyat’s lack of confidence in the government is ever-present, and understandable, given the severity of the situation. 

With the new Delta variant scare of a high infection rate, the only solution seems to be vaccination and this has been increasing within the country with 14,347,285 being given at least their first dose. A plan is set in place to ramp up the vaccinations with hopes that this will cause a significant downturn in the daily cases. We can see the improvement in the daily numbers of vaccinations of all those who have signed up, even opening up walk-in vaccination for all Malaysians over 60. The next challenge will be to address all the Malaysians who have not signed up for vaccination especially in the rural areas.

The weeks to come are going to be vital for both the government and the people.

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So It’s Sabri, Now What? 0 927

Our bed’s been made, I guess we gotta find a way to lay in it 

Looks like our democracy has been disregarded for the time being and no amount of unrest from the citizens is going to make a difference. For most of us, this is our only home so it’s time to make the best of a bad situation and be clear about what we want from the people in power:

Parliament back in full session

If SOPs are in place and MPs are vaccinated, there is no reason for parliament not to reconvene. The voices of the people need to be heard and this is the only way we’ll be able to see that. 

Proper financial aid to the B40 community

Not just one-off handouts, but monthly financial aid to help those who have been struggling to put food on the table for the past year and a half. 

Restructuring of the Pandemic Recovery Plan 

Insanity is defined by doing the same thing and expecting different results – it’s time to rethink, relook and restructure our plan to get us out of this pandemic. It’s not about relying on the vaccines alone but holistically approaching the situation. 

#Undi18

Automatic registration of voters for those ages 18 and above for upcoming elections. 

Vaccinations for those in remote areas

Even though the vaccination rates have been tremendously high, it is clear that those living in the outskirts and the Orang Asli community have yet to receive their doses. 

Better support for our healthcare workers

Without our incredible healthcare workers, we would have seen many more fatalities in the country. They should be given full-time positions with the benefits that they deserve. 

Fair treatment of foreign workers

Foreign workers deserve to have safe working and living conditions that should be mandated under the law. 

Stopping the intimidation of activists 

Under a true democracy, activism, protests and the voices of the people must be heard. Activists should be allowed to speak on their views without fear of being investigated.

These are just some of the ways we want to see a positive change with the “new government”. Let’s hope that there will be some brighter days for us as Malaysians.

What are some changed you’d like to see?

Fully Vaccinated Freedom 0 1020

Despite the highest number of cases our country has ever seen and major political unrest from all sides, fully vaccinated people are set to be given new rules and SOPs to allow for greater freedom. 

This has been received by the public both positively and negatively. Having some freedom in place for those who are fully dosed will bring much-needed relief to this nearly four-month-long tight lockdown. It’ll also serve as a huge incentive to those who were still unsure about taking the vaccines – the pressure of seeing their peers and friends out and about, enjoying their lives will likely push those on the fence to finally getting cucuk-ed.

However, there is a very real problem: the number of cases and the number of hospital beds available. The main reason we even went into lockdown in May was to alleviate the hospital load, but that has backfired with the hospitals on the verge of collapse. Will allowing more people freedom to go out result in a further increase in cases when we’re already in such a bad position? The Health Ministry also spoke out saying to not rush the relaxation in rules,

It’s going to be an experiment on the efficacy of the vaccines and their ability to keep individuals out of the hospital even if they were to be infected. Apart from this, a major concern is that people are so desperate to return to their lives that they will rush into this new freedom without waiting the two weeks for the immunity to kick in post-second dose. 

This two-week wait is when your immune system is at its most vulnerable and your ability to contract the virus and have it heavily affect you is very much there. If there are no rules set in place to ensure that individuals do wait out this time, there is likely going to be a spike in case of vaccinated people getting covid and falling very sick which will perpetuate a narrative that vaccines don’t work. 

All we can hope for is that the protocol that is set in place will provide clear rules on waiting for your immunity to kick in before venturing out. We’re all looking for this relief, there is no doubt about that, and hopefully, these relaxed rules will bring about some joy back to the people who have truly been suffering during this time.

Do you think it’s a good idea to relax the rules for the fully vaxxed?

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